AUSTRALIA. 109 



remarkable in their moral qualities. Although living constantly in 

 what appears to us a most degraded state, and frequently suffering 

 from actual want, they are nevertheless extravagantly proud. The 

 complete personal independence to which they are accustomed gives 

 to their ordinary demeanor an air of haughtiness and even of inso- 

 lence. Nothing will induce them to acknowledge any human being 

 (of their own age) their superior, or show any mark of deference. 

 At Wellington Valley, the missionary, Mr. Watson, was the only one 

 to whom they gave, in speaking, the title of Mr., and that merely 

 from habit acquired in youth ; all others, of whatever rank, they 

 addressed by their names alone, as Jack, Tom, Wright, Walker. 

 This does not proceed from ignorance on their part, as they under- 

 stand the distinctions of rank among the whites, and are continually 

 witnesses of the subservience and respect exacted by one class from 

 the other. They appear to have a sense or it may almost be termed 

 an instinct of independence, which disposes them on all occasions 

 to assert their equality with the highest. They frequently observe, 

 on being asked to work, " white fellow works, not black fellow ; black 

 fellow gentleman." On entering a room, they will not remain stand- 

 ing, out of respect, but generally seat themselves immediately. 



They are not great talkers, arid dislike to be much spoken to, 

 particularly in a tone of raillery. A gentleman told me that he was 

 once amusing himself by teasing a native, in perfect good humor, 

 when the man suddenly seized a billet of wood, threw it at him, and 

 then rushed for his spear in a state of fury. When he was pacified, 

 and made to see that no insult was intended, he begged that they 

 would not talk to him again in that manner, or he might be unable to 

 restrain his temper. 



They are, in general, silent and reserved, and appear to look upon 

 the whites with a mixture of distrust and contempt. To govern 

 them by threats and violence is impossible. They immediately take 

 to the " bush," resume their wandering habits, and retaliate by spear- 

 ing the cattle of their persecutors, and sometimes murdering the men. 

 They never, however, carry on any systematic warfare, and their 

 dread of the whites is so great that large parties of them have been 

 dispersed by the resistance of a few resolute herdsmen. 



Though constantly wandering, they are not great travellers, usu- 

 ally confining themselves to a radius of fifty miles from the place 

 which they consider more peculiarly their residence. If ever they 

 venture beyond this, as they sometimes do, in company with a party 



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